Market information 

Mechatronics in 2008: time for maturity, professionalization and concrete achievements.

One thing is certain, we will not be able to get away from mechatronics, whether that word is used or not. Using electronics, automation and software in mechanics is quite obviously a necessity. Everything is becoming too expensive to manufacture, operate, maintain, and indeed dismantle. To save money, it is necessary to take an overview, to replace expensive or poorly fulfilled functions with feedback systems, to monitor the correct parameters and use natural physical phenomena…

This makes it necessary to invest further in design and fully implement collaborative working, but as a result it is certain that energy will be saved, breakdowns due to wear and tear and leaks avoided, maintenance costs reduced and adjustments avoided.

Mechatronics, which was a difficult concept to grasp, is now better accepted and the term, which was still incongruous a few years ago, is widely used not only in marketing documents, but also by technical departments and even senior management. There is genuine recognition of the benefits of this approach. The issue has become clearer, to such an extent that some have been quick to completely refocus their strategy to go down this route.

Contrary to what many originally believed, no product, sub-assembly, component or even basic part exists which is not affected. There are few problems in relation to quality, user-friendliness, maintenance, reliability or even lifespan, which cannot be solved competitively using mechatronics. We should therefore not hesitate to talk about it and meet good contacts, before competitors become interested and take over the market.